By Courtney Dentch
A Long Island City teen was indicted Monday on charges of shooting and killing a woman in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant in Jamaica in February in a case of mistaken identity, the Queens district attorney said.
Joe Manley, 19, of 12-35 35th Ave. in Long Island City, allegedly shot Rosa Green, 49, also of Long Island City, while she was sitting in the driver’s seat of her son’s 1998 Lexus in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at the corner of Sutphin and Linden boulevards, DA Richard Brown said.
He said Manley expected Green’s son, Kevin, to be sitting in the driver’s seat. But police said he was in the back seat.
“The victim was a mother of four and a grandmother of eight who was allegedly shot to death after she was mistaken for her son,” Brown said. “Her death is a terrible tragedy.”
Manley was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, Brown said. If convicted, Manley could face a prison term of 25 years to life, he said.
Manley is currently in prison on charges of assault in an unrelated incident, police said. He was expected to be arrested on the murder and weapon charges by the end of the week, a spokeswoman for the DA said.
The shooting, which occurred on Feb. 27, allegedly arose from a dispute between Green’s son Kevin and Manley, Brown said. Green was shot twice, once in her chest and once in her left shoulder at about 6 p.m., police said. She was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, where she was pronounced dead just after 7 p.m., police said.
The shooting may have been a retaliation against Kevin Green, after he bumped into the girlfriend of a man the family believes may be involved, the New York Post reported at the time of the incident.
Green, who lived in the Ravenwood Homes in Long Island City and worked as a home health-care aide, received a phone call about her son’s car, which he was trying to sell, the Post said. Rosa Green went with her husband and Kevin to meet the prospective buyer when they stopped at the McDonald’s, the Post said.
Green’s family believes the call was placed by the shooter, who followed the family into the restaurant parking lot, the Post said.
The family was unavailable for comment.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300 Ext. 138.
